Pros
There are three key benefits to working at this company: - Pay: Graduates are paid very well given their lack of experience. - Team members: Many of the co-workers are lovely and want to do good work/take initiative. They have strong track records in terms of academic performance and care about the work they do. - Travel: You occasionally get to travel for conferences (these experiences are intense but are a good opportunity to bond with team members).
Cons
Many of the positives of working at Encode are overshadowed by the company culture created by the senior leadership. One of the main issues that I experienced was constant micromanagement. The leadership team (the CEO and his close associates) were more concerned with employees being constantly available than whether they were doing good work. Metrics-based or performance-based feedback was rarely given. Instead, rewards were given to those who worked overtime or responded to the senior leaders' messages quickly. Similarly, those who disagreed with senior leadership were often treated differently and denied promotion opportunities. As most of the staff was made up of fresh graduates, there was definitely a strong work ethic that was exploited by the leadership. During conference periods (often 3-4 day commitments, usually spanning over weekends), employees were not assigned breaks during their shifts (which were often 8 hours or longer). When this was collectively raised as an issue by junior staff, the feedback was dismissed as "unnecessary". Finally, it was difficult to work at Encode due to the frequent changes in company structure. The chain of command constantly changed due to people leaving the company (the turnover is very high). This resulted in confusion amongst younger staff and difficulties in long-term project planning, which will likely prevent the company from growing in the long term.
